Electric toaster.



L. F. PARKHURST.

ELECTRIC TOASTER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20, 1908.

95 1 ,287 Patented vMar. 8, 1910.

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Wi nesses: Inventori Leon F. Parkhurst,

Patented Mar.8,1910.

2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

Inventor: Leon F. Parkhurst.

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md/gw'v/ UNITED LPAIENT OFFICE.

LEON F. IPARKHUIRST,'OF IPITTSFIELD, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO GENERALELECTRIC COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

Specification of Letters Patent.

ELECTRIC TOAS'IER.

Application filed November 20, 1908. Serial No. 463,620L

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that'I, LEON F. PARKHURST, a c1tizen of the United" States,residing at littsfield, in the countyof Berkshire, State ofMassachusetts, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements inElectric Toasters, of which the following is a specification. Thisinvention relates to an electric cooking device of the kind in which itis necessary toapply radiant heat to secure the best results. In certaincooking processes the product is most palatable and healthful wheneffected entirely by radiant heat, such, for example, as that of makingtoast, which in ordinary practice is best effected by placing bread infront of a very hotopen fire,

so that the surface of the bread is quickly crisped and browned beforethe interior or body is thoroughly robbed of its moisture. Similarly, inbroilin meats the best result is secured by a pure y radiant heat, whichsears the outside and keeps the juices within the body of the meat.-

My present invention is particularly adapted to' toasting, thoughbrolling might be equally well conducted on a device having the samedesign, being modified only in details to provide for the collection ofsuch juices as are roasted from the meat.

In carrying out my invention I provide a source of radiant heat,consisting of a resistance wire which ma be run at a red heat withoutdamage, an mounted'vertically in the frame so that a considerable areaof hot wire is provided sufficient to cover the material operated upon,as, for example, pieces of bread to be toasted. I mount this Wire in askeleton frame or cage mounted upon an insulating support, in whichterminals are provided for leading current to the resistance Wire. Onthe two sidesof the resistance wire are provided baskets forming part ofthe cage inclosing the wire, in which two pieces of bread may be slippedfor exposure to the radiant heat of the wire. I thus provide that bothsides of the hot surface may be rendered effective and permit two piecesof bread to be toasted, each on a single side at the same time. Afterbeing thus toasted the bread is reversed in the baskets, so as tocomplete the operation. In

the top of the framework provide a plurality of insulators, inwhich-thewire is supported. The open cage not only provides means forsupporting the bread; but prevents contact of the highly heated wirewith clothing of the operator, or with any combustible material. It alsoprotects the wire itself from damage by blows or accidents, and alsorapidly promotes ventilation, giving free access to the air in a body ofsmall heat storage capacity, and, therefore, per mits the device to runcool, a very desirable feature from the standpoint of the operator.Moreover the circulation of air about the without serious inconvenienceor delay, as the top runs very cool, and the utensil may be handled'bythe operator immediately on conclusion of its period of service.

My invention is an improvement on the type of toaster described in apatent of W. S. Andrews, No. 936,597. In that device the source ofradiant heat is inclosed in a series of tubes made of fused silica. Theseveral units have both resistance terminals at one end in a socket.

In my improvementI use a similar open work cage or support with a basketat each side of the heating unit, but the cage is of differentconstruction, and I dispense with the expensive quartz tube and renderthe lating supports.

The accompanying drawings illustrate the invention.

Figure 1 is.a perspective view of a heating device embodying myimprovements, de-

view; Fig. 3 is a side elevation t1on;'F1g. 4. 1s an end elevation.

slate, or other suitable insulating material, upon which are mounted twoterminals, 2-2 adapted to receive a connectmg plug leading from thesource of current supply. Uponthis base is mounted the open wireworkframe or cage 3. This frame or cage 1s formed of stout wire ofsufiicient section, say 1/16 of an inch, to provide a rigid support forthe parts and to prevent injury 1n OI'dlnary service. The cage is formedof a numpieces of wire, as indicated in the drawings, bound together atthe to and bottom by transverse wires andpre erably united by hardsolder to form a rigid structure. The bottom frame wiresare bentasindicated at 4, and provided with an eye to engage bolts Patented Mar.8, 1910.

open cage permits the device to be handledheating wire self-sustainingby top inSusigned particularly with reference to the. operation oftoasting bread; Fig. 2 1s a plan partly in sec- 1 represents a baseformed of porcelain,

ber' of parallel fleur-de-lis or W-shaped 1.65

or screws to secure it to the base. The outer limbs of the W-shapedpieces are connected by a wire frame 5, the ends of which are bentaround the stem of the W, and a solid joint with the said outer limbs ismade by forming a kink or indentation in the frame and closely curlingthe wire in the indentation, thus forming with the outer limbs of the Wa basket in which the bread may be placed. Near the top of the cage isprovided a double wire 6 provided with a plurality of circular openingsto receive the insulators which support the top of the resistance wire.On each side of each circular opening is left an untwisted part of thisdouble wire, to permit the convenient assembly of the wire andinsulators. The insulators are shown at 7 and the untwisted portions at8. The two ends of this support are bent about a kink formed in the endwires of the cage, as indi-. cated in the perspective view, Fig. 1.

i The resistance wire may be of any approved material; but should be amaterial which will withstand a bright red heat for a long periodwithout disintegration or change of resistance from oxidation. For thispurpose may be used the resistance wire covered by the patent ofDempster, No. 901,428, dated October 20, 1908, made of a chromium alloy,giving a high specific resistance and being proof against disintegrationfrom repeated and long service at high heat. This wire by preliminaryheating forms on its surface a very thin film of tough oxid, which is asufliciently good insulator to prevent short circuit between turns, evenif adj acent turns are brought into contact. Wire of any proper section,fiat or round, of this material is coiled, reflexed, or otherwise formedin two connected lengths into a flat helix, as indicated in thedrawings; but the section should be sufliciently large to make the coilsself-sustaining, and to admit of this I connect the coils in series, thefree ends being fastened in metallic posts 9-9, etc., secured by screwsto the base. The upper connected end, in the form of an inverted U, isslipped through the slot in the supporting wire. The insulators arepushed around the wire by means of lateral slots indicated in Figs. 1and 3. These insulators are provided with a slot acrossthe top andanother slot vertically through the head, so that the wire may be firmlyseated before the insulator is pressed into its socket in the wiresupport. The double wire support may be sprung open to receive theinsulator, and when retracted will lock it in place. There are shown inthe drawings two pairs of such wire helices supported by fourinsulators. The two outer posts 99 are connected by leads 1010 with theterminals 2-2 The intermediate 1 posts 9 9 are connected together by aconnected in series with each other, and this is important, as itenables me to employ wire of larger cross section and prevents saggingof the coils or reflexes and makes the device hardier. A slot is formedin the bottom of the insulating support to admit insertion of theseconnecting leads and strips, which is afterward sealed with aninsulating cement, as indicated at 12. There is thus provided a rigidopenwork frame adapted to support two pieces of bread, and a nakedheating unit adapted to be run at red heat, which may radiate heat uponthe confronting faces of the bread and toast the same, two pieces beingtoasted at the sametime. Moreover, the frame being formed of metalhaving a small mass, has but little heat storage, and the apparatus isin operation at its maximum efiiciency almost instantly when the circuitconnections are made. The framework having so little mass has very smallheat storage and relatively large radiating surface and runs cool; theoperation of'toasting may be observed at every stage, and the slices ofbread may be easily reversed at the instant the proper degree oftoasting is attained. The columns of hot wire induce an upward currentof air, which not only keeps particular relation to its application totoasting, it will be evident to those skilled in the art that it is welladapted also to other operations in which a radiant heat is essential toa good culinary product, such as broiling, and although I have describedwith particularity the application of the invention to toasters, I donot desire to be limited to this particular use, but reserve for my ownuse any application of the invention within the terms of the claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates, is-

1. An electric cooking utensil, comprising,

a plurality of high resistance refractory bodies of bare wire adapted tooperate at a red heat, supported in an inclosing met-a1 cage providedwith baskets at the sides, and a plurality of insulators in the upperpart of the cage to support the resistance bodies, whereby radiant heatmay be applied at both sides of the heating element to material placedin the baskets.

2. An electric cooking utensil, comprising a plurality of coils of highresistance refractory wire having a film insulation and adapted to berun continuously at a red heat, a metal cage inclosing the coils havingbaskets at the sides, and a Flurality of insulators in the upper part 0the cage to support the coils, whereby radiant heat may be applied atboth sides of the heating element to material placed in the baskets.

3. An electric cooking utensil, comprising a plurality of coils of barehigh resistance refractory Wire of an alloy containing chromium, adaptedto be run continuously at red heat, a metal cage inclosing the coilshaving baskets at the sides, and a plurality of insulators in the upperpart of the cage to support the coils, the several coils being inseries, whereby the radiant heat of the wire may be directly applied atboth sides of the coils upon material placed in the baskets.

4. An electric cooking utensil, comprising an openwork wire cage havingbaskets at the sides to receive material to be toasted or broiled, ahigh resistance refractory heating wire mounted between the baskets,terminals and leads in the base, and a plurality of insulating plugs atthe top to support the wire.

5. An electric cooking utensil, comprising an openwork wire cage havingbaskets at the sides to receive material to be toasted or broiled, aplurality of coils of bare high resistance wire mounted between thebaskets, the lower coil ends being connected at the base with leads andterminals, and the upper ends supported in removable proof insulatingmaterial.

6. An electric cooking utensil, comprising an openwork wire cage havingbaskets at the sides to receive material to be toasted or broiled, aplurality of coils arranged in series of bare high resistance wire of analloy containing chromium mounted between the has kets and connected atthe base with leads and terminals, and a plurality of removable plugsof. fireinsulators supporting the upper ends of the coils.

7. An electric cooking utensil, comprising an openwork wire cage havingbaskets at the sides to receive material to be toasted or broiled, aplurality of coils of bare high resistance wire of an alloy containingchromium, arranged in series and mounted be tween the baskets, the lowercoil ends connected with leads and terminals in the base, and aplurality of slotted removable insulator plugs near the top of the cageto support the coils and permit assembly and removal.

8. An electric cooking utensil comprising a high resistance refractorybody of bare wire adapted to operate at red heat supported in aninclosing metal cage provided with baskets at the sides, and aninsulator in the upper part of the cage to supportthe resistance body,whereby radiant heat may be applied at both sides of the heating elementto the material placed in the basket.

9. An electric cooking utensil comprising a coil of high resistancerefractory wire having a film insulation and adapted to run continuouslyat a red heat, a metal cage inclosing the coils having baskets at' thesides, and an insulator on the upper part of the cage to support thecoil, whereby radiant heat may be applied at both sides of the heatingelement to the material placed in the basket.

In witness whereof, I have hereunto set my hand this eighteenth day ofNovember, 1908.

'LEON F. PARKHURST. Witnesses:

CHARLES BURGGAW, JAMES I. CARROLL.

